World War I brought labor shortages to many major cities in the United
States and Baltimore was no exception. For the first time in its
history, the United Railways and Electric Company hired women as
conductors and later, motormen, to work on the cars to replace the men
who had gone off to war. In this picture, the straw-hatted
conductorette, as she was known, is adjusting the trolley pole on a
streetcar. Route #17 cars ran from Gorsuch Avenue and Harford Road to
Westport until June 1947.